Little bluestem

* Common name: Little bluestem

Little bluestem Blue Heaven at Longwood Gardens.

* Botanical name: Schizachyrium scoparium

* What it is: A tough and versatile native ornamental prairie grass with slender green blades that turn orange-red in fall. Plants produce purplish seed heads in late summer that become a “puffy” creamy-white into winter.

* Size: Grows 2½ to 3 feet tall, plus another 10 to 12 inches for the seed plumes. Plant 2½ to 3 feet apart to allow for slowly expanding clumps.

* Where to use: Tolerant of heat, humidity, drought, occasional wet soil and poor soil, including clay. Plenty hardy in winter, and deer don’t like it either. In short, little bluestem is a durable choice. Uses include edging borders or driveways, massing on a sunny bank, mixed with perennials and shrubs in an island garden, or in a rain garden. Full sun is best.

* Care: Cut to a stub in early March (or any time over winter). Once established, no water or fertilizer needed. If clumps spread where you don’t want them, dig up and divide in early spring… fist-sized pieces transplant easily.

* Great partner: Native perennials, such as purple coneflowers, liatris and Stoke’s aster, combine to make a sun-loving native-plant garden. Mums, sedums, goldenrods and asters are good fall partners when the foliage turns orange-red.